Largely due to a starting rotation that definitely should have been upgraded, the team held down last place in the National League West Division for all but two of the first three days of April, falling eight games behind in less than three weeks.

In what Fowler called some long-overdue “right-sizing” of manpower to suit projected attendance of less than two million, layoffs have cut into something “under 20 percent” of guest-services personnel, ushers and the like. Season ticket-holders were angered by the re-allocation of seat availability for the high-revenue visit by the New York Yankees in August.

Due to the 18-month impasse with Time Warner that has kept subscribers from receiving Padres telecasts as part of its service, their games aren’t seen in roughly 40 percent of the county’s homes. Then again, when you walk into some San Diego sports bars with scores of televisions fully ablaze, you sometimes have to ask the proprietor to put the Padres games on one of them.

There’s a disconnect there that’s going to take more than time, or even a few more wins, to repair.

“We’re not saying ‘keep the faith’ for the next five years and then do something,” said Fowler. “Things will happen more quickly than individuals think. We started off poor, yes. We were horrible at the start. … But you could tell from (manager Bud Black) and (General Manager Josh Byrnes) that this was not going to be the same-old, same-old.”

For his part, Hall saw his first Padres game when they were a Pacific Coast League team playing in Westgate Park. He was in attendance at the first Sunday home game ever played by the expansion Padres at San Diego Stadium in 1969. Hall and his two teenaged sons are still semi-regulars at Petco Park.

Dan Moody, a former San Diego State football player who’s retired as both an El Cajon police captain and U.S. Navy Reserve officer, also hasn’t let his disenchantment keep him away from Petco Park.

“I’m one of those numbskulls who’ll come every year, no matter what, because I love baseball,” Moody said. “But what gets me — and a lot of people I talk to — is that feeling that ‘Doggonit, here we go again.’ We’ve got the new ownership. Hopes are up. And … nothing. All winter, nothing.

“I mean, jeez, throw us a bone. They’re doing all the right things at the ballpark — the nice experience, nice food, all the entertainment before Friday games. But where’s the beef? Not one new player in the offseason. People are tired of getting their hopes up.

“As a season ticket-holder — and I’m a 40-game guy, every year — you get frustrated. You’re all excited about the O’Malley name. Fowler’s a local guy. All that’s good, exciting. I know we’re a small market, but c’mon, show me something. Anything. It’s killing me.”

This is not an unfamiliar plea or complaint to Fowler’s eyes and ears. He, the O’Malleys and Seidlers have been on the case for little more than eight months now, trying to re-engage the team with the city, often getting the same response upon introduction.